Ink Blot
by Altssul
Summary: Four inklings in the gleaming city of Inkopolis find themselves doing more than just ink battling. Inkopolis won't know what hit it... (Rated T for brief course language)
1. Chapter 1

The telltale pitter-patter of footsteps on fresh ink alerted Sam to an approaching challenger. He quickly thrust himself behind a block, concealing his currently purple self from view. Peeking around the edge of the block, he aimed his splatterscope at the offending inkling.

The girl had a pair of studio headphones firmly around her ears and was taking aim with her own gun at her surroundings. She bobbed her head to the beat as Sam grinned, showing off his pointed teeth. She wouldn't be bobbing her head so peacefully for long.

Ready.

Aim.

Fire!

The squeals of the yellow-green girl filled the air and Sam revelled in his victory. "Suck it, nerd! You didn't even see me!" he yelled triumphantly.

Alts would kill him later but it was worth the euphoria.

Sam swam as a squid in the purple sea before him, following the path he drew out on his navigator. As he approached the centre of Kelp Dome, the yells of his teammate caught his attention. He stood and tried to decipher what his teammate was trying to tell him from above on the grate.

"What!?" Sam yelled. "Can't hear you!"

"BEHIND! YOU!" she hollered.

Oh. Sam whirled around just in time to see Alts unleash her adrenaline-fuelled vengeance on his being.

And just like that, his vision was filled with mucus-covered ink and he was gone. Distantly he heard her voice yell, "Suck it, nerd! You didn't even see me!"

"We kicked your team's ass." The two were sitting around in Jelly Fresh, looking through new clothes.

Sam frowned. "Hey, we were down one fighter. And I splatted you good."

Alts smirked. "And I got you back." She turned away and sighed. "Seriously though, these studio headphones suck. I should switch back to my white arrowbands. They worked so much better for me, too..."

"Ah yeah, that's true," Sam said, not really listening. He was eyeing a nice navy-striped shirt that appeared to be three-star.

"I'm going next door to Cooler Heads. You wanna come?" Alts said, standing up.

Sam shook his head, eyes fixed on the shirt. "I'll catch up." His friend disappeared with a nod of assent.

Later, they were both engaged in a match. A ranked battle. And nothing could aggravate a squid like a ranked battle.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Sam screamed, swimming and twisting tentacles like they should not be twisted in an effort to avoid the onslaught of sandy-coloured ink heading his way. He aimed his blood-orange ink loaded splatterscope at the offending inkling and let it rip.

The resulting cry was enough to soothe his soul. He continued to shoot around until Alts came from behind him, patting him on the shoulder once. "I got your back, bro," she said before turning around and shooting at a surprised sandy roller.

The two were a dynamic team: sniper and gunner, but they usually made it work.

Usually.

JBucket, a sniper, decided he did not know how to deal with his two teammates busy rapid-fire shifting between squid and kid forms and flopping around like fish. So he merely watched as Alts giggled and Sam jumped up and down as a squid, aware of precious time ticking away. He sighed and shook his head.

Alts caught his eye and immediately sobered, shooting some pink ink and the ground - which had already been dyed pink many seconds before. She shot him a sheepish grin, nudging Sam out of the air, who laughed a little before sobering too. "Sorry," they said in clumsy unison.

JB turned away, shaking his head. When they were done fooling around they'd help.

But as he wandered away, he continued to hear giggles and flipping fish. He stepped up his game - their team would need it with the absence of two players.

The pink team lost 17.8% to 71.1%.

Despite the awful loss they had suffered minutes before, the duo strode through the Plaza proudly, Sam bearing his new striped shirt, and Alts revelling in the light glinting off the glass of her new goggles.

"So I currently have more cash than I know what to do with," Alts said. Sam piped in with a "me too" - ranked battles had gone surprisingly well - before Alts continued. "Wanna go get something to eat? I hear they make a mean shrimp poutine at the cafe beside the Battle Dojo."

Sam brightened at the mention of poutine, and Inkopolis' dynamic duo wandered off casually to end their day with some fries, gravy, cheese, shrimp, and undoubtedly another half-brained shenanigan.

AN: Hello! This'll just be a sort of casual series. These first couple chapters will introduce the characters, but I don't plan for this series to be more than just comedy. Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Syd was a quiet girl, not speaking until spoken to. She never seemed aggravated during matches, always keeping her cool focus as she mercilessly shot down approaching inklings with her .52 gal. She never even seemed to break a sweat.

Which was precisely what scared Jack so much.

Jack was full of energy. The only one who could compare would be Alts, which explained why they clashed so often. He simply could not understand the reserved Syd, but being friends with Sam (and occasionally Alts) had taught him how to deal with sensitivity. He was careful around her; he was gentle in tone and words.

He knew her favourite colour was pink and that she loved being out in the sun. Oh, and that she had an affinity for balloons. But that wouldn't help him.

So the problem arose when less than a week remained until the squid girl's birthday.

Jack dashed to the cafe, spying Sam and Alts through the window. He entered hastily, coming up from behind Alts, grabbing her saltwater bagel and biting into it, then pulling up a chair and sitting at their table.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Alts cried angrily. "I paid good money for that! You owe me five." She glared at Jack, who was still eating her bagel.

"No time. Syd, birthday." He made motions with his hands. "Next week? What do?" His mouth was full, but that had never stopped him before.

Alts ripped off his white arrowbands in revenge, while Sam spoke in a slightly amused, mostly confused tone. "Uh, Syd? Her birthday?" He hummed. "I guess the standard cake is a given."

Alts chimed in, "She likes cats." She then made a face. "Personally I like dogs but we can save that feud for Splatfest. Hm, I think she likes croissants?"

Jack sighed dramatically, reaching for his arrowbands (which Alts made sure to keep out of reach). "We need something better than some old croissant and a cake." A lightbulb went off in his head. "A surprise!" he exclaimed.

Alts gave him a strange look, while Sam's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Jack grinned. "Okay. I have a plan."

Jack's inkPhone vibrated in his hand, interrupting his music with a loud ringtone. He put the phone to his ear. "'Sup?"

"Yeah, Jack? Spike's price is ri-dic-ulously high for these firecrackers. Isn't there anywhere else in Inkopolis that sells 'em?" Alts irritation could be heard even through the phone.

Jack puffed a sigh. "No, everywhere else is sold out 'cause of the Splatfest. Can't you bargain with Spike?"

"Bargaining is Cream's thing, not mine."

Jack remembered their fierce friend Cream, who was short but not short in will. She was a master of bargaining as well as cooking. "Well, you'll have to get the money somehow. Syd'll be here soon. I've asked Judd to keep Blackbelly Skatepark off the stage selection for today, but that's all I can do. Have you contacted Sam lately?"

"He's getting the food and materials ready, says he'll meet you at 4. I'll call Cream later and arrange some invitations to be sent out."

"'Kay. I'll decorate with him then." Jack spotted Syd disembarking the train. "Syd's here."

He heard Alts groan. "Have fun on your birthday date. I've got some ranked battles to win." Then he heard the dial tone.

He sighed and pocketed his inkPhone, then smiled at Syd.

Sam was having a hard time.

His sister loomed over him, eyeing the boxes in his arms suspiciously. "And where do you think you're going with those?"

Sam sighed. "I really don't have time for this, Vic - "

Vic scoffed. "Uh huh. I bet you're sneaking off to some turf war. You're so lame."

Sam rolled his eyes and pushed back Vic without a second glance and set off to Inkopolis to meet Jack.

Syd wasn't sure what to expect, really. Last year her birthday consisted of a cake, a croissant, and a middle-class dinner at some restaurant. Not that she'd minded - time with her friends was good time in her book.

This year, she found herself waking up to her mother and little brother's thoughtful breakfast in bed, but no streamers courtesy of the squad hanging from her ceiling. Presents from her mom ranged from touching to embarrassing, but there was no clumsy bursting out of the closet by three certain inklings or poorly-rehearsed dance numbers.

So now, after a polite and enjoyable outing with Jack, she found herself on the perch at Blackbelly Skatepark. At night. With hands covering her eyes.

The entire way there her eyes had been covered - they'd even borrowed a propeller lift from who-knows-who so she wouldn't have to swim up to the top of the perch. But they'd been silent the entire way there. And she would be lying if she said she wasn't curious.

Alts was impressed with herself. She'd rounded up more people than she'd ever thought she could in less than a day, helped organize the decorations and fireworks setup, AND won a good dozen ranked battles to boot.

All of her friends, their friends, and anyone who'd even heard of Syd had came. They stood with their streamers and lanterns and those with blasters held them at the ready. Cream had baked up a fantastic cake as well as the typical croissants Syd so adored. Now, the yellow inking stood at the ready behind the fireworks, with a lighter just waiting to set something on fire.

So as she stood at the top of the perch, to the side of Jack, who was covering Syd's eyes, and Syd herself, she allowed herself a triumphant grin as she ran through the first warning signal with her glow sticks. Get ready.

Sam, behind her, nudged her gently, passing on the message. Now.

She threw her glow sticks down.

Jack lifted his hands from Syd's eyes.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the crowd cheered. The blasters blasted ink of all colours to the sky, and the fireworks went off with a stunning explosion of colour.

Syd's jaw dropped. All around her, familiar faces beamed up at her, lit by the fireworks and lanterns. She heard cheering and saw confetti and all she could think was how much her friends had outdid themselves. Her eyes were moist but she stopped to laugh as the crowd began singing 'happy birthday'.

Jack was the first to speak after the song. "We wish you the best of birthdays, Syd!"

Syd shook her head, smiling. "You guys..." She motioned for a group hug. Her friends obliged.

As the fireworks died down and the crowd erupted in chatter, Cream's shrill cry could be heard. "CAAAKE! THE BIRTHDAY GIRL GETS THE FIRST SLICE OF CAKE!"

Syd smiled and jumped down from the perch with her friends in tow.

AN: Welcome back! In this chapter the other two characters, Jack and Syd, are introduced!

If you enjoyed, feel free to let me know! There'll be more to come. I'll also post pictures of the inklings on my deviantart or tumblr later on. I'll link them when I do them.

Thanks for reading!


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